Funeral procession held for Officer Gabriel Stainback in Cornelius

Loved ones honored the life of a Cornelius police officer hit and killed while riding his bike.

ALSO READ: Classmate of Gabriel Stainback reacts to officer’s sudden death

Chopper 9 Skyzoom captured the procession for 26-year-old Officer Gabriel Stainback.

Dozens lined up Friday morning on the sidewalk along Dale Earnhardt Boulevard to pay their respects.

On Saturday, Stainback was off duty, riding his bike in Concord with his new wife when a car hit and killed him on Miami Church Road.

Funeral procession held for Officer Gabriel Stainback in Cornelius

Stainback was born in Rutherfordton and grew up in Concord.

He was a state champion high jumper for the Spiders, a seven-time all-conference, and a three-time champion decathlete at High Point University.

Stainback’s obituary also said he was a nature lover, commercial pilot and avid biker who was just beginning a career of service as a police officer in Cornelius.

“Officer Gabriel Stainback was just one of those good guys,” said Deputy Chief Jennifer Thompson, Cornelius Police Department.

The recently married Stainback had been with the department since December 2024.

Stainback was a night shift patrol officing policing the community with a mindset of service, Thompson said.

“He was actually getting ready to become one of our new school resource officers, and we were excited about that, because he’s young,” Thompson said. “(He) could have that really positive, strong influence among the middle school kids. And so, we’re really, we’re really broken-hearted on many levels.”

Stainback’s family, friends and loved ones paid tribute to him at the church he loved: Bethel Baptist Church in Kannapolis.

“We’re going to we are definitely miss Officer Stainback,” Thompson said. “It’s going to leave a hole in our hearts and in our community and the impact that he left in a short amount of time.”